San Joaquin County Biographies
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
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WILLIAM SCHLOSSMAN.
A deep student of political economy who has become a strong advocate of
irrigation, and has thereby wielded an enviable influence for the public good,
is William Schlossman, president of the board of trustees of the West Side Union
high school. He was born in North Riga, on the Baltic, on June 22, 1866, and
owing in part to the foresight of his father and mother, received what was then
called a good common schooling; and after graduating from the Gymnasium at Riga,
he entered the College at Dorpat, in 1884, majoring in economics. Owing to
family reverses however, he was forced to abandon his college course; and when
death took away his mother, early in 1887, he entered the employ of a large
wholesale and importing house of raw-silk stock and other products of the East
Indies, China and Japan, and for two years he was engaged in the purchasing
agent's department. He made two trips to the Far East, by way of the Suez Canal.
In February, 1889, Mr. Schlossman landed at San Francisco, after a
boisterous trip around the Horn, intending at first only to make a short visit
and then to return to his post as purchasing agent; but after a careful survey
of conditions in San Francisco, he resolved to tarry indefinitely. In April of
that year he pushed inland into the San Joaquin Valley, and with the exception
of five years, from 1902 to 1907, when he was engaged in real estate in San
Francisco, he has made Tracy his headquarters and home. The fire, following the
earthquake of April 16, 1906, swept away his fortune; and in 1907 he removed to
San Joaquin County for good. He took up construction work with the engineers'
department of the Western Pacific, and was for five years in charge of the
Stockton-Livermore division. In 1908 he acquired his ranch of 160 acres, and he
has since devoted a part of his time and energy to agriculture.
Naturalized at Stockton by Judge J. H. Budd in 1896, since which
eventful moment he has worked for better citizenship under the banners of the
Republican party, William Schlossman has made a worthwhile contribution to the
building up of the West Side. He has been particularly active in laboring for
better schools, and were it not for such men as the late Dr. J. S. West, one of
the broad-minded and progressive veterans who helped to lay the foundations of
this region, George J. Luhrsen, and our subject, the movement in 1910 for a West
Side Union high school might never have taken place. Now the section enjoys an
institution said by many to be at least fifteen years ahead of the average high
school to be found in other like localities in the state. Mr. Schlossman has
served as president of the board of school trustees since 1917.
At San Francisco, on February 16, 1903, Mr. Schlossman was married to
Mrs. Matilda Gerlach, who has resided in California since 1880; and one child
was born to them, Elsie. She is the wife of Arthur F. Michel, and they have two
children, Billy and Florence, and reside at Oakland. Mrs. Schlossman's maiden
name was Matilda Grell, and she was born in Saxe-Meiningen, being a daughter of
Christian and Katherine (Lammerhard) Grell, her father being a prominent mason
and storekeeper at Saltzungen. Her mother died when she was only thirteen years
of age. She was married to her first husband, William Gerlach, July 7, 1881, and
became the mother of four children by her first marriage: George is a rancher
residing in the West Side Irrigation District; Ford is in Napa; Rudolph died
when thirty years of age at Tracy; Frieda is the wife of Francis Jack Norman and
resides in Oakland. Since 1904, Mr. Schlossman has been a member of the I. O. O.
F., and is a past noble grand of the Sumner Lodge of Tracy, and only recently he
resigned the office of secretary, after five years of continuous service,
whereupon, on the evening of July 16, 1921, he was presented with a beautiful
silver tea service as token of the high esteem in which he was held by his
fellow Odd Fellows. He is also a member and a past officer of the Encampment.
Mr. Schlossman was secretary of the Tracy Chamber of Commerce for ten years. He
resigned that position in 1910, in order to take up the secretaryship of the
Banta-Carbona Irrigation District, which comprises 18000 acres.
History of San Joaquin County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co.,
1923
p 1019
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.